I Played a Role is the first track and video from "The Other Person is You", El May's forthcoming album.

El May is the nom de plume of LA-based Australian musician Lara Meyerratken. Her self-titled debut LP was self-released in 2010, and received organic radio support at major American stations with a number of tracks licensed for television (Pretty Little Liars, The Lying Game, Melrose Place) and film (Our Idiot Brother).

The premise of the accompanying video for I Played a Role, directed by Yaara Sumeruk, was to approach strangers in New York and have them listen to the song and dance to it, in the street, with the artist. The dreamy slow-motion results are engaging, enigmatic and utterly charming.

"The train scene was our dream come true", says Lara. "We had imagined a best-case scenario, where our journey around the city over the two days coincided with some amazing subway dancers. At the end of the day, headed to our final locations, exhausted on the J train - we heard the famous call - 'SHOW TIME !'. So we approached them... it turned out to be a real highlight!"

It's perhaps no surprise that the infectious dancehall-inspired beat was the genesis of the song. "I wrote the melody only with the drum machine", Lara explains, "I heard the melody in that".

Prior to recording under the moniker El May, Meyerratken’s impressive capabilities as a vocalist and multi-instrumentalist were harnessed by a remarkable variety of artists including Nada Surf, Luna, Crooked Fingers, and Luscious Jackson. In addition to her work as a performer and recording artist, she composes music for film and advertising, and is a visual artist. Lara scored original music for Hank and Asha - a darling of the 2013-2014 independent film festival circuit. In 2010 Meyerratken won the lauded Cannes “Gold Lion” award as Musical Director for the Match.com “Duet” campaign, and in 2005 won an ARIA Award (often referred to as the Australian Grammy) for her album cover art for Ben Lee’s ‘Awake is the New Sleep.’

El May's album "The Other Person is You" will be released on Lojinx in Europe later this year.